Yvonne Anderson and Associates Pty Ltd and Tax Practitioners Board

This matter concerned appeals by Yvonne Anderson and Associates Pty Ltd ("YAA") and Ms Yvonne Anderson against decisions by the Tax Practitioners Board ("TPB") to terminate their registrations as tax agents. The TPB's decisions were based on findings that the applicants had breached the Code of Professional Conduct and were not fit and proper persons to be registered as tax agents under the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 (TASA). The dispute arose from the TPB's concerns regarding YAA's competency and its failure to exercise reasonable care in providing tax agent services, particularly in relation to work-related expense claims made by some of its clients.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Ms Anderson was a fit and proper person for registration as a tax agent, and consequently, whether YAA was eligible for registration. This required the Tribunal to determine if the applicants had breached specific provisions of the Code of Professional Conduct, including failing to lodge tax returns and business activity statements by their due dates, and failing to take reasonable care in ascertaining the state of affairs of their clients relevant to the preparation and lodgement of income tax returns. The Tribunal also had to consider whether Ms Anderson had made a false statement to the TPB and whether the tax services provided by YAA were competent.

The Tribunal found that the applicants had breached section 30-10(2) of the Code by failing to lodge one income tax return and six business activity statements by their due dates, although it noted that some of these delays occurred during a period of significant illness for Ms Anderson. More critically, the Tribunal found that YAA had breached section 30-10(9) of the Code by failing to take reasonable care in ascertaining the state of affairs of 19 clients concerning their work-related expense claims. This failure resulted in amendments to the clients' income tax returns, leading to tax shortfalls and penalties. The Tribunal also found that Ms Anderson had breached section 30-10(1) of the Code by making a false statement to the TPB. Based on these breaches, the Tribunal concluded that Ms Anderson was not a fit and proper person to be a registered tax agent.

The Tribunal affirmed the TPB's decisions to terminate the registrations of both Yvonne Anderson and Associates Pty Ltd and Ms Yvonne Anderson as tax agents. The termination of Ms Anderson's registration was to take effect from 27 March 2020, prohibiting her from providing tax agent services and preventing her from applying for registration for a period of 12 months.